We Test Forza 4's Virtual Cars Against the Real Things

In the latest Transformers movie, there's a scene in which former lingerie model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley gracefully climbs out of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG as though she were gliding on air. For anyone who has driven an SLS, the scene is downright laughable: No one steps out of the car that smoothly. When the gullwing opens, you grip the side, lunge forward and cartwheel your body out of the low-slung cockpit.Okay, so movies are not always intended to be realistic. (Transformers is about an ancient race of transforming robots, after all, so the mechanics of a Mercedes seems like a small gripe.) But in modern video games, we expect authenticity. The whole idea of sophisticated driving games is that you can get behind the wheel of a $250,000 supercar like the SLS with the understanding that it's based on the real thing.The recently released Forza Motorsport 4 is one of the most impressive, and realistic, car games ever created. To make it that way, the developers at Turn 10 Studios spent thousands of hours capturing OEM data from hundreds of real-world cars and visiting tracks all over the world.We wanted to know just how close the virtual driving experience has come to the real thing. So we drove four cars—the SLS, the Cadillac CTS-V, the VW Golf GTI, and even a Lexus CT 200h—both in real life and in the game. In addition, we talked to the automakers and to John Wendl, content director at Turn 10 Studios.

2012 Volkswagen Golf GTI: Actual

2012 Volkswagen Golf GTI: Actual

In the latest Transformers movie, there's a scene in which former lingerie model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley gracefully climbs out of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG as though she were gliding on air. For anyone who has driven an SLS, the scene is downright laughable: No one steps out of the car that smoothly. When the gullwing opens, you grip the side, lunge forward and cartwheel your body out of the low-slung cockpit.

Okay, so movies are not always intended to be realistic. (Transformers is about an ancient race of transforming robots, after all, so the mechanics of a Mercedes seems like a small gripe.) But in modern video games, we expect authenticity. The whole idea of sophisticated driving games is that you can get behind the wheel of a $250,000 supercar like the SLS with the understanding that it's based on the real thing.

The recently released Forza Motorsport 4 is one of the most impressive, and realistic, car games ever created. To make it that way, the developers at Turn 10 Studios spent thousands of hours capturing OEM data from hundreds of real-world cars and visiting tracks all over the world.

We wanted to know just how close the virtual driving experience has come to the real thing. So we drove four cars—the SLS, the Cadillac CTS-V, the VW Golf GTI, and even a Lexus CT 200h—both in real life and in the game. In addition, we talked to the automakers and to John Wendl, content director at Turn 10 Studios.

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG: In-Game

2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG: In-Game

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is a head-turning model, but so is the SLS AMG. During a few days of testing, dozens of people stopped and stared, gathered around the car in parking lots and even asked for rides. The SLS is all about unique features: A spaceframe chassis that makes the car lighter and more suited to racing (plus it takes 13,000 pounds of force to bend it just 1 degree), a front midengine design that feels like you're driving on a spindle (in a good way), and even an option to custom order satin paint.

Of course, the real fun is in driving the car. With an official 0–60 time of just 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 240, the SLS is the first vehicle designed by the AMG brand at Mercedes top to bottom. (Most AMG vehicles were designed and built by Mercedes and then modified for the AMG brand.) Car enthusiasts point to one wholly unique feature: the muscular rumble that emanates from the dual exhaust, thanks to the normally aspirated (as opposed to turbocharged or supercharged) engine.

In the game, the Benz produces a similarly thunderous roar. Forza 4 nailed the idling sound, which is even meaner and hungrier than the Chevy Camaro SS. During acceleration, the game mimics the aching moan of the engine, though it's just a hair too understated compared to the real thing. (You can't roll the windows down in the game to hear the engine better, but you can switch to a few behind-the-car camera views that make the engine easier to hear.)